Euphorbia hirta as a gold mine of high-value phytochemicals: A comprehensive review of its pharmacological activities and possible role against SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Euphorbia hirta is a common medicinal plant in folk and traditional medicine systems. This plant has shown promising effects against several human ailments and infectious diseases. Therefore, it is important to summarize the medicinal activities and value of Euphorbia hirta. The main intent of this literature review was to summarize the phytochemical content and pharmacological applications of Euphorbia hirta. The literature review about the pharmacology and phytochemistry of Euphorbia hirta was collected from different global platforms, such as Scopus, ERIC, PubMed, and Web of Science. E. hirta has a rich phytochemistry and exhibits remarkable activity against respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and venereal diseases. Different extracts of this plant have shown significant preclinical anticancer propensity against an array of different cancer cell lines. It acts as a highly active antiviral agent and has shown pronounced activity against coxsackievirus, human immunodeficiency virus, dengue virus, poliovirus and simian immunodeficiency virus. A clinical study showed its inhibitory responses against flu and fever in dengue patients. Most importantly, the plant possesses remarkable inhibitory action on ACE, which aids SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells. The multidimensional role of Euphorbia hirta as a potential antiviral agent suggests its possible application to control COVID-19 along with modern and Western medicinal strategies. In conclusion, the literature review regarding Euphorbia hirta showed its strong pharmacological applications, such as antimicrobial, antimalarial, anti-asthmatic, antioxidant, antiviral and anticancer activities. Further in-depth research is necessary to monitor its role in the management of viral diseases, especially COVID-19.

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“…As literature indicated, the conclusive remarks could be confirmed the following reasoning: (a) major content of T. khasianum was rosmarinic acid (i.e., o -diOH bearing ES) and (b) predominant compositions of E. hirta were euphrobianin, quercetin, quercetin 3- O -alpha-rhamnoside, isoquercitrin, and rutin (i.e., o -diOH bearing ESs). Due to abundance in biocompatible ES species, these two herbal extracts could be considered to be top-priority selection for anti-COVID-19 drugs [ 30 , 41 , 42 ].…”

“…Euphorbia hirta aerial parts (Fēi Yánɡ Cǎo), the dried aerial parts extracts of E. hirta showed the antioxidant property using DPPH and FRAP assays, and its anti-diabetic activity were evaluated by glucose uptake assay [50] . E. hirta widely distributed in Asia, it has been found for many biological activities which including antioxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-venom, antimalarial and antiviral (e.g., HIV, DANV, HSV activities) [ 41 , 42 , 51 ]. The literatures have been reported for E. hirta anti-COVID-19 activity using two different targets of SARS-CoV-2, namely Main protease (Mpro; PDB ID: 6M2N ) and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp; PDB ID: 7BW4 ) recently.…”

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“…They are very 2 of 12 diverse in their morphological and ecological characteristics, and many of them have been used for various purposes since ancient times owing to their excellent pharmacological properties [10][11][12]. For example, it has been reported that Euphorbia hirta, also known as garden spurge, shows antidiarrhoeic and anti-inflammatory activities and can also be used to treat digestive problems, respiratory system disorders, injuries, and skin cellular tissue disorders [13][14][15][16][17]. There are also several reports on the use of various plants of the Euphorbia genus for medicinal purposes [10].…”